How möchten and gern work. I am a little confused by the usage of möchten and mögen with gern. I was under the impression that möchten meant "would like to", and mögen meant "to like". for example, I

Steven

How möchten and gern work. I am a little confused by the usage of möchten and mögen with gern. I was under the impression that möchten meant "would like to", and mögen meant "to like". for example, I have seen this written in a German textbook: "Wen magst du besonders gern?" Why is "gern" necessary in this sentence if mögen implies that I like something? Similarly with "Was möchtest du gern tun?" Is it necessary to have "gern" in these sentences? Or is it a way to show politeness? Would it be considered wrong or bad for my response to not have gern in it? For example, if I had the question: "Was möchtest du gern tun?" and I responded with "Ich möchte nach Berlin fliegen", or would it be better to do something like "Ich möchte gern nach Berlin fliegen".

Nov 24, 2015 12:52 AM

Answers · 5

There are two ways to use "to like", with different translations: to like s.th. = etwas mögen to like to do s.th. = etwas gern(e) tun Example: Ich mag Fussball. Ich spiele gerne Fussball. ("Ich mag Fussball spielen" is acceptable in colloquial speech). OTOH, "möchten" is used with a verb: "Ich möchte Fussball spielen". (Again, "Ich möchte ein Eis" is used in colloquial speech, esp. by children.). So "gerne" is an adverb that indicates that the action is agreeable. If you add "gern" to "mögen" or "möchten", it works in the same way: it emphasizes that one really likes to do it, just like "besonders". Therefore "Was magst du?", "Was magst du gern?", "Was magst du besonders gern?" "Was möchtest du tun?", "Was möchtest du gern tun?", "Was möchtest du besonders gern tun?" all mean the same thing, with different degrees of emphasis. Same for the answer.

November 24, 2015

That makes sense. Thanks. :)

November 24, 2015

I am under the impression that adding gern adds emphasis that you want to do or like something. I would like to do it with pleasure. "I would gladly... Ich möchte gern"

November 24, 2015

Still haven’t found your answers?

Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!